Sofa-bed hinge



Sept. 8, 1953 E. G. KRAKAUER SOFA BED HINGE Filed Nov. 5, 1949 w d a RbnY m m m NvA R E V6 N |.m A W. .m m7 l! JJ Patented Sept. 8, 1953 UNITEDSTATEfSf OFFICE SOFA-BED HINGE EdwinV G; Krakauer, Brooklyn,v N.v Y.,assigrnorV to..

Kay. Manufacturing Corporation,

Brooklyn.Y

N; Y., a corporation of NewYork Application'November 5, 1949, SerialNo.-125,-761v 14Claims. (CIJ- 47) This. invention relates A.to -the.hinges for. sofa.- beds` andV particularly' to fthe. typevvhich Ymay bealternately locked irr-- one `position and` released to rmoveintoanother position during. the conversion of' the sofa-bedffrom asofa intoa bed and vice versa.

Thewpresent invention contemplates the provision of a simple but eicientsofa-bed hinge-in.

Which the: lockingi and releasing means operates effectively in anylposition of thehinge in the sofa-bed. and independently ofy the. effectof. gravity and which is not vlikely toV becomejammed orto-fail-tooperate over long periodsA of time or after disuse for aoonsiderableperiod.

Theinvention further contemplates the provision of a pairv o1.vcooperatingpoverlapping re.-

leasing pawlscarried by a spring-pressed locking` lever and positivelyoperatedmechanically by the locking pin or bail-.on one ofthe-hingemembers.

to release-the hinge forv swinging movement of the hinge membersrelatively to each other by positively removing. the locking pin from.the looking lever by means offone pawl which initiates the releasingmovement without the aid ofgravity or'of springs other, thanthatpressing onthe, locking lever, the pin being carried clear of said.

one pavvl byvmeans of the other pa-Wl Which completesthereleasingmovement of the pin..

The invention further contemplates the pro-` vision ofimeansfornlimitingthe releasing movel ment; of` the-pawlsI which are.v suitablyy shapedftoinsure thepositive and dependable release .or unlocking-f ofz the.-hinge onlyl when desired .and the i positive.looking of the., hingemembers together when desired.

The various objects. of., the inventionvvill be clear`- fromVthedescriptionV which follows and from the drawings, in which. v

Eig. l.is :a-:sideelevational vievvof the hinge in. itsnormal lockedposition wherein the l.back ,and

seat,..shown indash-,dot lines, arein the sofa.- formingpositions.

Fig. 2. is a similar View of. the. hingein its re:-A versed. but still..locked intermediate position Whereintheseat. is -up and the back isdown.

Fig. 3 is4 a similar fragmentary elevationalview andpartial sectionalView. of thereleasing pawls and'loolring4 pin showing thevpositionsassumed thereby at the. beginning-of the releasing operation.

Figi. 4 is asimilar vievvthereof. showing the locking:pininovedoutl oione-pawland about to` be transferred; into-thewnoteh of the 'otherpavvl.v

Figi. 5 fis similar. view thereof showingv Said other?pawl.rotatedisomewhat-rom the position.

\ the,sofa-formingposition of Fig. l.

Eig. 8.is across. sectional'view of the looking` lever and,thereleasingpawls takenon the line 8.-B.of Fig. 3.

In the practical. embodiment. of. the .invention shown by way of,example-and asis now -Well understooddnthe arttoWhich the. inventionpertains, the seat IIMlig. l) is secured to one member Ilofthe hinge.While theback` i2 is secured.

to `the .otherhinge member I3, the hinge members IIand..IS-beinghingedtogether by the pivot I.

The..usual control andbachsupport bar I5v isV pivoted-,atits upperendl6to the member I3 andy atits lower end. Il is pivotedand. arrangedadjacent toan endothe. support member IB.. The

other control bar I9 is pivotedat itsv upper end to the pivot. I4.and-.at-its'lovver end is pivoted tothe `support Iii-.by thepivot 2E),Ythesupport beingsuitably securedzto the couch frame 2|. In Fig. l, the.seat, backandframeare indicated by dash-dotlines, thearrowsindicatingthe direction of movement ofthe adjacent parts to carrythe partsintothenext succeedingr position.

It willbe. understoodfthat a set of parts, each setv consisting of aksupport. I8, a suitable spring as-22. securedto the bar` I9 and to thesupport i8, hingemembers IIY and I3,.and control bars I 5 and I9, isarranged at. each end of the sofa. It will further.. be. understoodthat. in. moving. the seat andbackand theu hinge parts secured there-.to` from the normal seat-forming position of Fig.

l tothebed-forming position of Fig. 6., the hinge members II` and. I3.are, first locked. together to move as. aunit to the intermediateposition of Fig.. 2 therebyto .carry the back only into a hor- .izontalposition the seat being in a raised position; Wlierea'fterA thehingeisunloclred` and the hinge-memberv I I andltslseatrswung relativelyto the member I3. andlowered;into Vthe bed-.forming position .of Eig.6.. It willalso beunderstood. 'that in changing from the bed-formingposition of Fig. 6 to the sofa-forming position of Fig. 1, the seat andmember are rst raised into the intermediate position of Fig. 2 andlocked, and the thus locked together hinge members and seat and backfinally swung as a unit into the seat forming position.

With the above described usual operation of hinges of the present typein mind, the description of the novel release pawls 23 and 24 and of thechannel shaped locking lever 25 may now proceed. The pawl 23 serves toinitiate the release and the pawl 24 to complete the release of thehinge members as will later herein be fully explained. Said lever 25 ispivoted at one end 25 to the hinge member I3 and passes through theU-shaped bail 2 and swings between the legs 28 land 29 of the bail,which legs are secured to the hinge member The leg 29 of the bail servesas the locking pin for the hinge when it enters the similar laterallyaligned notches 30 and 3| in the respective parallel spaced side walls35.2 and 33 of the locking lever (Fig. 8). Integrally connecting saidside walls is the top wall 34 imparting a U-shape or channel crosssection to the lever. Urging the lever to rotate about its pivot in aclockwise direction as viewed in Figs. 1 to 7 whenever the other partspermit the lever so to rotate, is the bent spring 35, one leg of whichis anchored to the hinge member |3 as at 36 and the other to the lockinglever as at 31 after the spring has been bent around the pivot 26.

The release pawls are pivotally mounted in overlapping relation in thespace 38 between the side walls of the locking lever, one pawl as 23being pivotally mounted on the pivot pin 39 near the free end of thelocking lever and the other pawl 24 being mounted on the pivot pin 40 inlongitudinal spaced relation to the pin 39, both pins passing throughthe side walls of the locking lever. The combined thicknesses of thepawls is less than the width of the space 38 so that the pawls may swingindependently of and across each other into and out of the space 'andacross the notches 39 and 3| of the locking lever. When swinging intothe space 38, the pawl 23 rotates in a clockwise direction, and the pawl24 swings in the opposite or counterclockwise direction to enter thespace, wherefore it may be said that the pawls are mounted for pivotalmovement in opposite directions.

Means are provided to limit the swinging movement of the pawls in bothdirections. In the retracted positions of the pawls, wherein they are asfar inside of the locking lever as they can go, the pivot pin 49 for thepawl 24 serves as a stop for the other pawl 23 by engaging the longconcave inner edge thereof as best seen in Fig. 7. Similarly, the pin 39serves as a stop to limit the retracting movement of the pawl 24 byengaging the long inner concave edge thereof as seen in Figs. 3, 4 an-d'7. The respective inner edges of the pawls themselves serve as stops tolimit the extended positions of the pawls out of the lever, the endportion 4| of the inner edge of the pawl 23 engaging the inner surfaceof the top wall 34 of the lever as shown in Fig. 4 and the end portion42 of the inner edge of the pawl 24 engaging said inner surface of thetop wall 34 as shown in Fig. to prevent the pawls from swinging too far.rThe inner edge of each of the pawls is preferably made generallyconcave to permit the pawl to be sufiiciently retracted into the lockinglever to be out of the way of the locking pin 29 when said pin isremoved from the notches 30 and 3| to unlock the hinge,

The outer edges of the pawls are properly shaped to perform theirreleasing functions. That is, the edge 43 of the pawl 23 has the notch44 therein, one edge 45 of which is longer than the opposite edge 46, toform the generally triangular projecting tongue 41 on one side of thenotch. The edge 45 may be undercut or concavely arcuate and concentricwith the pivot 39. The corresponding edges 48 of the notches 30 and 3|have the same curvature and register with the edge 45 in the lockedposition of the hinge shown in Figs. 1 and 2 and in the fully retractedposition of the pawl 23 shown in Fig. 7. The pawl notch 44 is slightlywider than the diameter of the pin 29 and its edge 46 is forciblyengaged by said pin when the releasing operation is initiated (Fig. 3)while the edges of the notches 39 and 3| are then free of the pin. Saidedge 46 is preferably straight and its arrangement is such that the pin29 will not slide out along said edge when the hinge member is raised inthe direction of the arrow from the position shown in Fig. l. Thenotches 30 and 3| in the locking lever are considerably wider than thepin 29 and the notch 44 to permit the pin to assume the position thereofshown in Fig. 7 just prior to locking, the pin being out of the notch 44but in the notches 30 and 3|.

The outer edge of the pawl 24 is preferably recessed as at 50 at aboutthe middle thereof to allow the pin 29 to enter the locking notches 39and 3| when the pawl is retracted and the pin has not yet entered thenotch 44 as shown in Fig. 7. The pin 29 in its upward movement into theposition of Fig. 'l is adapted to engage an edge of the recess 50 tomove the pawl 24 out of the way and to permit the pin to lock the hingemembers by dropping back into and entering the notches 44, 30 and 3|when the hinge member is released, as will later be more fullyexplained. An end recess or notch 5| having two side edges 52 and 53, ismade at the outer corner of the free end of the pawl 24 for thereception of the pin 29 as shown in Fig. 5 to carry the locking pinclear of the notches and around the pawl 23 thereby to complete thereleasing or unlocking operation. The provision of the notch 5| resultsin the formation of the pawl tongue 54 between said notch and the recess50.

Normally, the parts are in the locked positions of Fig. 1, the pin 29being in the notch 44 of the pawl 23 and in the notches 30 and 3| of thelocking lever 25. In this position, the weight of the back |2 pressesthe lever 25 downwardly against the pin 29 and maintains the pin in thenotches against displacement, while the pawl 24 is inoperative but isheld retracted inside the lever by the engagement of the pin with anedge part of the recess 50. The seat is lowered or horizontal and theback is up, so that the parts are in sofa-forming position. To convertto the bed-forming position, the parts are maintained locked and theseat and back are rotated as a unit as shown by the arrows of Fig. 1into the intermediate position of Fig. 2, the back now being horizontaland the seat being raised as indicated by the positions of the hingemembers |3 and respectively. To lower the thus raised seat or hingemember into the bedforming position, the seat is rst raised as far as itwill go in the direction of the arrow from the position of Fig. 2 toswing the hinge member counterclockwise about the hinge pivot |4. Theconsequent slight movement of the hingemember raises the pin 29 througha short arc having the pivot i4 'as yerneuter,.-causing'countenclockwiserotation of the locking lever #against the action of the f spring S35about --pivot '26 to a greater extent v.than therotation of the hingemember il whereby the levenmoves relatively to and away Vfrom the pin.This is-because the pin 29 tends to move in an arcapproaching the pivot3-9 of the 'pawl kv23,'but cannot move closer to the pivot becauseisuchmovement ris `resisted by the pawl 23. Hence the pin is pressed forciblyagainst the notchedge46and=then exerts a compressi-ve force on-the pawl2'3 to cause the `pivot 39 to move countercloclrwise in an arc about thelever pivot 6 as a center, 'fuicrumingas it does so about thevrelatively slightly `moving pin 29, whereby saidpi-n'and 'theadjacentpart of thepawl 23 against which it'ispressed, isf-exposed, thelockingleverwithdrawing away from the "pin, and the 4pawl 2,3 beingtherebyin'eifect, rotated out of the notchesof vthe'lockinglever totheposition of Fig. 3 toinitiate the releasingvoperation.Such'movement'oi lthepawlfre'latively` to the lever carries the edge 46ofthe-'notch 44 into a position in which it is tangent to the curvededge 55 of thetongue 54. When the pawl 24 is engaged by the Apin justbefore said :pin slides oli the notch edge 46, said pawl isfrotatedagainst the stop pivot 39. It will be notedthat in the position of Fig.3, the end 4| of the pawl :23 is stopped by the wall '34 and cannotrotate 4in a counterclockw-ise direction. Hence, -on further liftingmovement of the hingemember 11, the pin slides out of the'notch 44 and`-is transferred on to the curved edge Y55 of the pawl l24 out-of thenotches' 39 and 31, as shown 4inlig. 4.

.From the position of Fig. 4, continued lifting of the hinge member l Icarries thepin 29 against the 'lower edges of the side walls 32"and 33ofthe locking lever `beyond the notches 30 and 3l 'and into thecornerrecess H51 ofthe pawl 24fandcauses the pin to rotate the lever againstthe action of the Yspring 35 4until the 'lever is "stopped by asuitable'stop such as the leg A28 of the :bail 21 which engages lthevtop `wall V34 vof the "lever, Further lifting ofthe hinge member 1Ilsthereby prevented. -Since 4the lseat cannot 'then be raised anyfurther, any vadditional movement thereof to complete the releasingmovementimust be in a downward direction. Suc'shlowering of the seatandits hinge member 'causesithe pin 29 to seat "firmly in the'recess 51against the edge 5S thereof and to rotate `the Ypawl 24 about its pivot49 toward andpast Vtheposition thereof shown'in Fig. 5 and until the end'42 thereof *is stopped by the top wall 34 of the lever, sai'dlevermoving slightly clockwise under 'the influence of the spring '35 asiaras is `permitted by the pin 29 andthe pawl 24. Further lowering oftheseat and the `pin 29 vwhile the Jpawl '24 is stopped, causes the pin toslip olf the edge 53 'to 'complete'the releasing movement of the`pawlrwhich has carried 'the pin around theother pawl 23 and away fromthe lever, thereby permitting the lseat to be lowered intothepositioncf'Fig. 6. As soon as the pin "29 leaves the lrecess 551, thelever-25 is 'freedfsince the pin has been swung by the pawl 24 to aposition considerably below the lever. The thus freed lever v-is acted-on by the spring to swing the'lower edges vof the lever against thepin, uwhich slides r`downwardly along said edges as the seat and hinge`member it are lowered to the bed-forming position of Fig. 6. v`it will"be understood 'thatifzthepawl E4 were vi-om'itteci, it 'would-`V4become A4'diicult `.to unlock` thehinge, `because upward rmovement:oi

the member 1H would result '.mere'ly -in carrying the ifpn out 'of 'the'loc-king notches, `and ydownwardtmovement .of said ,-memberwould merelyreinsertfthe pin into the notches.

AIt-will be noted that the movement of the pawl 24 above `described isaccomplished positively and dependalblyl under .the direct forceexerted-on the -pin `and therethrough on the pawl by the movement of'the hinge member Il. Itwill also benoted'that'should the tongue 4'|.ofthe pawl 23 be projected or positioned in the path of the pinwhile'saidpin moves with the pawl 24 then the rounded surface of the-pinacts as acamto move the tongue out of its way by swinging the pawl 23 in --aclockwise -direction enough to retract -or -to'push'said pawl back intothe space 38 between the side walls 'of the lever.

'When it is desired to re-convert from a bed to asofaythe operationsjust described'are reversed, the seat being iirst raised fromtheposition of Fig. 6to theintermedi-ate locked position of"Fig.'-2.Asthe seat and'hinge member H .are lifted lout 'of thepositi'on of Fig.6, the pin i29 slides-alongthe llower vedges of the lever, lrotatingsaid lever counterclockwise against the action of the spring 3-5 untilthe pin approaches the notches V319, =31 `If the paw-l 23 projects outof the lever, thenthe pin 'engages the tongue 41 and swings the pawlclockwise about vits pivot to retractthe pawl into the lever. Similarly,if the tongue -535 ofthe pawl 24 projects out of the lever, it islpushed back thereinto, thereby to expose the locking notches y30, 3|.As the pin passes the nearer rcorners of said notches, it frees thelever for Athe `action of the spring 35y which swings said leverclockwise to carry the pin against the outer edge 43 ofthelcompletelyretracted pawl 23 into the position shown 'in Fig. '7, in which the pinis Valsopressed against the further edges of the locking'notches 3b, `3|by the lifting force on the hinge member Il. 'The hinge partsare therebytemporarily looked and the member H cannot be lifted `any further byythe operator, who stops exerting lifting 'force thereon. Such releaseof theli-itingforce-on the member causes it to drop slightly under theweight lof the parts carried thereby, whereby'the pin-29 drops into thelower parts of the"notches 31] and 3! as well as into the Wnotchf44 ofthe 'pawl 23 rto lock the hinge members in thefpositionsshown in Fig .'2against relative `movement;until the hinge member l! is againdeliberately lifted for releasing purposes. Itrwill be Inoted'that thepin cannot enter the notch 44 ldirectly on the lifting of the hingemembei` I-I vvfrom the bed-forming position, rbut that the -pinmustfirs-t strikethe remote edges of the locking vnotches'in the lever `andmust then be dropped slightly-to Yattain the final locking position. -As-thepinmoves downwardly to pass the cornersmade byth'e intersection vofthe edges 4S and-43, the `springsa again becomes eiiective to rotate the.lockingflever clockwise enoughV to cause the :pin to enter all -of thelocking notches.

AFrom 'theintermediate position of Fig. 2, the sofaeformingipositicns ofthe parts'are reached by flowering fthe `locked `seat and hinged member1H, thereby `raising the back andthe member vI3 inthehsual manner. Itwill -be understood that bylitheuprovision of separate pawls, I amenabled to :attainrpositive action of the :pawls for releasing andlocking :purposes without depending on springsiorgravityfto pperate saidpawls, .and `that the spring to .operate -thelocking fleverrmaywbe'rel'fitively heavyeandistrong 4to insure fthe desired action underallznormalcircumstances andron- 7 ditions even though the parts becomerusty or tend to stick from disuse or the entry of dust or foreignmatter into the device. It will further be understood that the hinge,While simple, is durable and eiiicient over long periods whether usedfrequently or not, and that the invention is well designed to accomplishits intended purposes.

While certain specific forms of the invention have herein been shown anddescribed for illustrative purposes, it will be understood that variouschanges may obviously be made therein without departing from the spiritof the invention as dened in the appended claims.

I claim:

l. In a hinge of the character described provided with apair of hingemembers hinged together one of the hinge members carrying aspring-pressed locking lever having a locking notch therein, the otherhinge member carrying a locking pin adapted to enter the notch to lockthe hinge and to leave the notch to unlock the hinge on the manipulationof the hinge members, a pair of independently movable hinge-releasingoverlapping pawls each having a pin-receiving notch therein and eachpivoted to the lever, the pivot for one pawl being beyond one side edgeof the locking notch and the pivot for the other pawl being arrangedtransversely of the other side edge of the locking notch, said one ofthe pawls being mounted to swing the notch thereof in an arcuate pathabout the pivot of said pawl and beyond the lever on the movement ofsaid other hinge member in a given direction thereby removing the pinfrom the locking notch, transferring the pin to the notch of the otherpawl on continued movement of said other hinge member in the givendirection, and said other pawl being of suiiicient length to extendbeyond said one pawl and beyond the lever when said pawls are overlappedto the maximum extent, said other pawl on receiving the pin and onmovement of said other hinge member in the opposite direction beingadapted to carry the pin past said one pawl and past the locking notch.

2. The hinge of claim 1, the pawls being pivoted to the lever atrespective points in longitudinal spaced relation to each other.

3. The hinge of claim 2, one edge of the pinreceiving notch of said oneof the pawls registering with a corresponding edge of the locking notchof the lever when the hinge is locked and the pin is fully within thelocking notch.

4. The hinge of claim 1, said other pawl having a tongue on one edge ofthe pin-receiving notch thereof and movable to position the tonguealternately into and out of juxtaposition to an edge of thepin-receiving notch of said one of the pawls to permit the transfer ofsaid pin from said one of the pawls to the other pawl and then to permitmovement of the pin with said other pawl as a unit and relatively tosaid one of the pawls.

5. In a hinge of the character described, a pair of hinge memberspivoted together, locking' means comprising a spring-pressed lockinglever carried by one hinge member and having a locking notch in an edgethereof, and a locking pin carried by the other hinge member andarranged to enter the notch and to lock the hinge, and to leave thenotch to unlock the hinge, and means to carry the pin out of the notchcomprising a rst pawl pivoted to the lever at a point beyond the lockingnotch and having an edge notch therein adjacent the locking notch andadapted to receive the pin, the notch of said pawl being spacedsuiciently from the pivot of the pawl to swing with the pin as a unitout of the notch in the lever to a predetermined extent sufiicient toinitiate the unlocking of the hinge on the movement of the other hingemember in one direction, and a second pawl pivoted to the lever at apoint in longitudinal spaced relation to the pivot point of the iirstpawl, said second pawl being arranged to move about the pivot pointthereof independently of and across the rst pawl and the lever, saidsecond pawl having an edge recess therein in the path of the pin, atongue on the outer end of the second pawl guarding the recess of thesecondv pawl and extending at all times outwardly beyond the adjacentedge of the lever, the recess of the second pawl receiving the lockingpin after said pin has been removed from the notch of the first pawl andmoved outside of the lever past the tongue on the aforementionedmovement of the other hinge member in said one direction, said secondpawl swinging with the pin as a unit relatively to the iirst pawl and tothe lever on movement of the other hinge member in the oppositedirection and when the pin is received in the recess of the second pawland held in said recess by the tongue thereby to carry the pin past theiirst pawl to complete the unlocking of the hinge.

6. The hinge of claim 5, the lever having a pair of spaced parallelwalls and an integral wall connecting corresponding edges of theparallel walls, a pivot for each of the pawls passing through theparallel walls, and the pawls being arranged between the parallel wallsin overlapping relation.

'7. 'Ihe hinge of claim 6, the pivot for the rst pawl being in the pathof the second pawl and the pivot for the second pawl being in the pathof the rst pawl, said pivots serving as stops to limit the movement ofthe pawls into the lever.

8. In a hinge of the character described provided with a pair of hingemembers pivoted together, a spring-pressed locking lever carried by oneof the members and having a locking notch therein adapted to receive alocking pin, a locking pin carried by the other member, means to removethe pin from the notch to release the hinge comprising a pair ofoverlapping and crossing pawls pivoted at such diierent points to thelever as to swing across the notch and across each other, each of thepawls having a pin-receiving edge notch therein, a tongue on each pawlforming a side of the notch in the corresponding pawl, each of the pawlsbeing longer than the width of the lever thereby to carry the tongue ofone pawl beyond the lever when said one pawl is swung in one directionand to carry the tongue of the other pawl beyond the lever when saidother pawl is swung in the opposite direction, and means limiting theswinging movements of the pawls in both directions.

9. In a hinge of the character described, a rst seat-carrying hingemember, a second backcarrying hinge member pivoted to the first hingemember, a U-shaped bail having two legs lixed to the rst hinge member, alocking lever pivoted to the second hinge member and passing through thebail between the legs thereof, said lever having an edge notch thereinfor the reception of a leg of the bail whereby said leg serves as alocking pin to :lock the members together against accidental relativemovement, and means for removing the locking pin from the notch therebyto release the members comprising a iirst pawl having an edge notchtherein adapted to receive the locking pin, said pawl being pivoted tothe lever to move in one direction away from and across the notch of thelever, and a second pawl pivoted to the lever at a point in longitudinalspaced relation to the pivot point of the rst pawl to move in theopposite direction when moving away from the lever, the second pawlhaving a tongue on the outer edge thereof forming one side of a cornernotch therein, said corner notch receiving the locking pin onpredetermined initial releasing movement of the rst hinge member in onedirection and carrying the pin past the notch of the lever and aroundthe free end of the first pawl on the inal releasing movement of thefirst hinge member in the opposite direction.

10. The hinge of claim 9, a tongue on the rst pawl adjacent the edgenotch thereof, the tongues of said pawls being arranged in the path ofmovement of the pin for engagement by the pin in predetermined positionsof the pawls to move the pin positively, and means limiting the movementof the pawls.

11. In a hinge of the character described, a pair of hinge membershinged together, a springpressed locking lever pivoted to one of thehinge members, a U-shaped bail having a pair of spaced legs secured tothe other of the hinge members, one of said legs serving as a lockingpin to lock the members together against relative movement, the leverbeing U-shaped in cross section and having a pair of laterally spacedapart side walls having laterally aligned locking notches in therespective corresponding edges thereof to receive said locking pin, saidpin extending laterally of the lever, a rst releasing pawl, a secondreleasing pawl, said pawls being arranged between the side walls of thelever to swing into and out of the lever, a pivot through the lever forthe rst pawl beyond the notches and adjacent the free end of the leverand in the path of the second pawl to limit the extent of retraction ofthe second pawl within the lever, said first pawl having an edge notchtherein, one edge of said edge notch being arranged to register with thecorresponding edges of the lever notches when said iirst pawl isretracted Within the lever, a pivot for the second pawl passing throughthe side Walls of the lever and in the path of, and serving as a stopfor, said first pawl to limit the extent of the retraction of said firstpawl within the lever, said iirst pawl being swingable in one directionout of the lever and the second pawl being swingable in the oppositedirection and across the notches of the lever and out of the lever.

12. The hinge of claim 11, the respective ends if the pawls engaging theside edge portions of the lever to limit the extended positions of thepawls out of the lever, said pawls being freely swingable on therespective pivots thereof and being engaged by the locking pin and movedthereby on the movement of one hinge member relatively to the otherhinge member out of the locking position to remove the pin from thelocking notches.

13. In a hinge of the character described, a pair of hinge memberspivoted together for relative movement, means for locking said membersagainst such movement comprising a locking pin projecting laterally fromone hinge member and a spring-pressed locking lever pivoted to the otherhinge member and having a locking notch therein receiving the lockingpin, and means for releaslng the members for relative movementcomprising a rst pawl of greater length than the width of the lever andpivoted to the lever and having a pin-receiving notch therein adapted toregister with the locking notch and svvingable away from the lever withthe pin as a unit when the pin is in said pin-receiving notch on slightrelative movement of the hinge members in a given direction to removethe pin from the notch of the lever, said pin leaving the notch of thepawl on continued relative movement of the hinge members ln the samedirection to the limit of such movement thereby to initiate theunlocking of said hinge members, and a second pawl longer than the Widthof the lever and pivoted to the lever at a point in longitudinal spacedrelation to the pivot point of the rst pawl, the second pawl having apin-receiving recess therein in the path of the pin, and cooperatingmeans on the lever and the pawls maintaining the pawls at all times lnpositions wherein the pawls cross each other, said means also limitingthe pivotal movement of the pawls relatively to each other in bothclockwise and counterclockvvise directions, the notch of the first pawland the recess of the second pawl being each swingable into positionsbeyond an edge of the lever when the respective pawls are engaged andmoved by the pin.

14. In a hinge of the character described, a first hinge member, asecond hinge member pivoted to the rst hinge member, a locking pin iixedto the first hinge member, a locking lever pivoted to the second hingemember and having an edge notch therein for the reception of the pin, arst pawl having an edge notch therein adapted to receive the lockingpin, said pawl being pivoted to the lever at one point to move in onedirection away from and across the notch of the lever, a second pawlpivoted to the lever at a different point to move in the oppositedirection when moving away from the lever, the second pawl having apinreceiving notch therein, each of the pawls being longer than thewidth of the lever, and means maintaining the pawls in relativelycrossed positions and for also limiting the movements of the pawls.

EDWIN G. KRAKAUER.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

